Twitter Celebrity of 2013 : Noopur Shalini

Twitter is a happening place nowadays. Twitter is a barometer of the pulse of the nation. Many observers have compared Twitter to that famous tea shop in a typical village square where people gather to exchange the latest gossip. You can either love Twitter or hate Twitter but you cannot ignore Twitter.

The year 2013 saw many remarkable incidents happening on Twitter. There are a few tweeps who are decent, follow good manners and have strong views and opinions on almost everything under the sun. What’s even more interesting is these tweeps air their views on Twitter fearlessly and relentlessly. And knowingly or unknowingly they entertain or inform you through their witty tweets day in and day out.

Noopur is that tweep who enjoys to express her opinions on Twitter. She has got a lot of funny ideas too. She always makes it a point to interact with her followers. She is fearless. She is highly opinionated. She is fun but she knows her limits too. She is the most entertaining Twitter personality of 2013. Here’s my detailed interview with her. Read her insightful answers and follow her. She has nearly 1,500 followers but refuses to call herself a Twitter Celebrity.

1. You’ve completed around three years on Twitter. And let me congratulate you for successfully transforming yourself from a girl next door to a Twitter celebrity whose tweets get retweets and responses in double digit, how does it feel?

Ans. I opened my account 3 years back, but i started tweeting only from July 2012, as i wanted to congratulate and wish good luck to our Indian team for London Olympics. I have never joined twitter to transform myself into a celebrity but only to lighten my mood and put my views on a social networking platform. I would like to believe that I am still the GIRL NEXT DOOR. I started my journey from zero followers and by playing twitter contests. For the first time I strongly expressed my opinion on #DelhiGangRape, the incident which – I feel – almost shattered the people of country. Post that it was India-Pakistan match and my tweets got recognised by many and I liked the way I got RT’s and responses from tweeps. My journey started from there.

2. As you’ve experienced so often that no longer TV is needed to know the breaking news. Twitter is where all big stories break regularly. Do you see this phenomenon growing in the years to come? Will more and more sensational stories break on Twitter first before capturing the imagination of the TV news anchors? If yes, is this good for the traditional reporting or journalism or does it have a serious competition and this is precisely it should reinvent itself?

Ans. Sometimes breaking of a big story on twitter might mislead people and spread rumours. I don’t consider Twitter as a source of breaking news. Also, few times strong stories fail. Twitter outrage is a fad. I am on Twitter but I still listen to DD News and read The Hindu newspaper in the morning. Now you can only judge how much competition it gives to the traditional source of news.

3. I have many a times noticed your tweets which are critical of cellular service providers or are creating awareness about some bad product or service or are questioning film critics for giving biased reviews of the just released flicks. Why do you like to speak up? Is the crusader in you angry all the time? Or is it because you know that Twitter will get you desired attention? People will hear you and those who are trying to spread misinformation will know that they cannot fool people as easily as that? Please tell my readers about Noopur the crusader.

Ans. I feel very disappointed with the customer service we get in India, not only in cellular service but also pizza delivery, poor quality of products and customer care person not speaking and responding properly. It is just annoying that we buy products trusting them and then chase the brand to help us out. Customer service in India is very rude and I think its only social media where we can reach the brand directly and can tell them where they are going wrong.

Coming to film reviews, yes I oppose biased reviews. I am not angry all the time neither I criticize everything. I liked Lootera, Bullett Raja, Lunchbox, Madras Cafe, etc a lot and wrote about them too. Whatever is the truth, it should be spoken out. And I’m of the opinion that every individual has her own views. I don’t do anything just to gain attention. In fact, to tell you the truth, I have regretted a lot many times when I had tweeted something insane and got noticed instantly.

4. On Twitter you seem to love 140 characters. Do you ever wish that tweets should not have this limit of 140 characters?

Ans. I love expressing myself through the written words. Apart from composing tweets, I have also written poems and articles. Getting yourself limited to 140 characters and airing your views accordingly is an art by itself to me.

5. When you are in a good mood, you have a lot of fun by tagging celebrities in your tweets asking them seemingly harmless but humorous question. Is it a technique to lift your mood or to make your followers smile? Or are you trying to figure out whether these celebrities handle their accounts on their own or outsource this job to their PRs? What’s your view?

Ans. I love getting replies from celebrities, who else wouldn’t love it? I remember getting reply from Amitabh Bachchan. When that had happened, the whole day I had been in the paradise. Asking funny and humorous questions – though looks stupid – lifts my mood. It may sound insane but honestly speaking I laugh at my own jokes sometimes after tweeting them. I like giving compliments to people. And if being funny makes others smile there is nothing wrong in it. It is indeed an honour that I made someone smile. I do sometimes try to figure out whether the handle is outsourced to the PR’s, but if a celebrity really want to connect with their fans and followers, they should take out sometime and spend that time with us. Not all of us are rude contrary to what they may like to believe.

6. What’s the secret formula to get followers? When tweeps ask for a follow back, what’s your strategy to say no?

Ans. Haha. I have never joined twitter to gain followers. Also my followers count has increased slowly but steadily. That said, I am happy that those who follow me and interact with me and support my views. There are many tweeps who ask for a follow back. If someone does so, I keep a check on their tweets and with the passage of time if i like their tweets, I do oblige them by following back.

7. With the general election round the corner, so many politicians and their supporters are joining Twitter. Do you think it will have any impact on the final outcome of the election?

Ans. No. All educated people are on twitter and are wise enough to understand what is right and what is wrong. Connecting to people is one thing and promoting politics is another.

8. Do you come across abusive trolls? How do you keep them in check? How do you keep your calm and don’t allow online abuse to affect you in any way?

Ans. Frankly, I don’t get many but if I get, I tend to ignore them. You cannot control abusive trolls. I don’t lose my temper but take it in a funny way. Sometimes this approach annoys the trolls more. Also, If you can’t handle the trolls, don’t troll and comment on others. Whats goes around comes around.

9. Being a Twitter celebrity, what’s your advice to people out there who want to join Twitter?

Ans. Join twitter to air your views and read what others tweet in a sporting way. And refrain from abusing others by masking your true self under the guise of anonymity.

10. Every day so many hashtags trend. Any favourite hashtags of yours? Any favourite tweets of yours would you like to share that received so many retweets and you would pick it up as the tweet of 2013?

Ans. #LetterToMyHair was one of the best hashtags of 2013. Two of my tweets are my personal favourites.

1. Actually in reality Pillow is your life partner.

2. In UP, bijli appears only in Bhojpuri songs. Rest is a myth there.

11. Finally, many tweeps accuse you of being a boy under the guise of a girl. What would you like to tell them? Would you also like to clarify something else or give some message to your followers?

Ans. I don’t want to give any explanation. I always feel astonished to see how others are interested in your personal life on social media. I enjoy reading whatever people infer about me.